In this not-so-long post I intend to share my work-flow for digital painting in photoshop using solid and gradient layers, vector clipping, layer masks and layer clipping.
As I am not writing this as a tutorial so there is not much descriptive text – I assume that you have working knowledge in Photoshop. So here is only the summery of the painting procedure.


This is the sketch I have made in plain paper and ball-point pen. As I am not going to reuse the lines, so I made it in a loose way – no final tight drawing here.
After that I scanned the image in a reolution of 300 dpi in greyscale and saved the image in jpeg format.

Next I opened the jpeg file in Photoshop to color it digitally.
I renamed the background layer as 'ref' – the reference, and set its opacity to 50%.
I added a gradient layer with these settings:
Next I added another gradient layer with the settings given below:
Next I added a vector clipping mask to 'kanya' and traced the outline of the girl from the reference image.
I also added a layer mask to 'kanya' layer and draw black to white gradient at the bottom of the image to make it fade out.

Above the base 'kanya' layer I added another gradient layer with these settings:
I renamed this layer as 'shadow' and set the layer blend mode to Multiply.
I had created a vector mask around the character roughly to enclose the effect of the gradient to the girl only. And finally to crop the shadow to the main character – I made clipping mask with the 'kanya' layer.As now the base for our shadow is ready – I added a layer mask to this 'shadow' layer and started casting shadow by just drawing them inside the mask.

When I was satisfied with the darkness – it was time for adding some highlight to the girl.So I added another gradient layer above the 'shadow' layer with the settings given below:
To set the limitation of the gradient I copied and pasted the vector mask I had created for the 'shadow' layer to 'highlight' and finally to make the highlight effective only for the character – I made clipping mask with the previous 'shadow' layer.
Next it was time to 'draw' the highlights. So I added a layer mask to this layer and as I had done with the shadow layer – I crafted highlight inside the mask only.

To make the girl stand out from the background– it is best to add some drop shadow behind her.
Under 'kanya' layer I added a gradient layer with the settings as listed below:

Now it is time to say good bye to the 'ref' layer – turning it off reveals the final image.
So how do you like it? If you find this post useful, please share it to the interested people or leave a comment.
As I am not writing this as a tutorial so there is not much descriptive text – I assume that you have working knowledge in Photoshop. So here is only the summery of the painting procedure.
Step 1 : Concept and sketch

This is the sketch I have made in plain paper and ball-point pen. As I am not going to reuse the lines, so I made it in a loose way – no final tight drawing here.
After that I scanned the image in a reolution of 300 dpi in greyscale and saved the image in jpeg format.
Step 2 : Preparing the workspace

Next I opened the jpeg file in Photoshop to color it digitally.
I renamed the background layer as 'ref' – the reference, and set its opacity to 50%.
I added a gradient layer with these settings:
- Start color : 260b04
- End color : 5f250d
- Style : linear
- Angle : 90
Next I added another gradient layer with the settings given below:
- Start color : 542e04
- End color : a44a07
- Style : linear
- Angle : 90
Next I added a vector clipping mask to 'kanya' and traced the outline of the girl from the reference image.
I also added a layer mask to 'kanya' layer and draw black to white gradient at the bottom of the image to make it fade out.
Step 3 : Adding shadow

Above the base 'kanya' layer I added another gradient layer with these settings:
- Start color : 894009
- End color : 361c00
- Style : radial
I renamed this layer as 'shadow' and set the layer blend mode to Multiply.
I had created a vector mask around the character roughly to enclose the effect of the gradient to the girl only. And finally to crop the shadow to the main character – I made clipping mask with the 'kanya' layer.As now the base for our shadow is ready – I added a layer mask to this 'shadow' layer and started casting shadow by just drawing them inside the mask.
Step 4 : Adding highlight

When I was satisfied with the darkness – it was time for adding some highlight to the girl.So I added another gradient layer above the 'shadow' layer with the settings given below:
- Start color : 7e420c
- End color : 537813
- Style : linear
- Angle : 90
To set the limitation of the gradient I copied and pasted the vector mask I had created for the 'shadow' layer to 'highlight' and finally to make the highlight effective only for the character – I made clipping mask with the previous 'shadow' layer.
Next it was time to 'draw' the highlights. So I added a layer mask to this layer and as I had done with the shadow layer – I crafted highlight inside the mask only.
Step 5 : Creating dropshadow

To make the girl stand out from the background– it is best to add some drop shadow behind her.
Under 'kanya' layer I added a gradient layer with the settings as listed below:
- Start color : ffffff
- Second color : 808080 location : 50 %
- End color : d8b6da
- Style : linear
- Angle : 90
Final output

Now it is time to say good bye to the 'ref' layer – turning it off reveals the final image.
So how do you like it? If you find this post useful, please share it to the interested people or leave a comment.
Awesome work will definitely try this technique as its good for statues and all.
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